HEROIN with a street value of £1 million has been recovered by detectives in a dramatic swoop on a car in Birmingham.

HEROIN with a street value of £1 million has been recovered by detectives in a dramatic swoop on a car in Birmingham.

Police found around 12 kilos of drugs wrapped in a bin-bag and also in a plastic carrier bag in the boot of a Toyota car that had been stopped.

It is understood officers from the Regional Crime Unit had been watching for some time as part of an on-going operation before pouncing as the men drove through Stechford at 4pm on Wednesday.

Three men were arrested in the swoop as police said they had succeeded in disrupting a major drugs operation.

The seizure is among the biggest in Birmingham.

A similar amount was recovered by officers during a unconnected swoop on a drugs factory in Great Barr in July last year. Then a sophisticated production line had been set up to package and process the drug on a massive scale.

Following this latest seizure, a police spokesman said the huge slabs of drugs would now be sent away for forensic analysis.

"We are extremely pleased with this latest operation. We have succeeded in disrupting suspected drugs activity and made important arrests," a spokesman for the Regional Crime Unit said.

"The public can be assured that we will continue to target drug dealers across the region and would like to hear from anyone with information about drug-related crime or activity in their area."

The Regional Crime Unit is a cross-police taskforce that targets drugs networks, as well as serious and organised criminals operating across the Midlands.

The unit comprises officers from West Midlands, Warwickshire, Staffordshire and West Mercia.

* Two men, a 25-year-old from Small Heath and a 28-year-old from South Wales, have been charged with conspiracy to supply Class A drugs. They were due before magistrates in the city today. A 36-year-old from Bordesley Green has bailed pending further inquiries.